Sly Marbo
Sly Marbo sets off an ambush of a T'au armoured detachment]] Sly Marbo, sometimes called the "One Man Army," is one of the most decorated members of the Astra Militarum in Imperial history, in this case a revered member of the Catachan Jungle Fighters. He is known to possess unparalleled military skills, including the ability to handle a Sniper Rifle like a Vindicare Assassin and survival and ambush skills that rival those of any member of the Adeptus Astartes. It is not known whether or not the name "Sly" is an earned name as per Catachan tradition, or his actual given one. History Guardsman Marbo is one of the fearsome "Catachan Devils," the closest thing the Jungle Fighters have to the elite Storm Troopers used by other regiments. A natural born survivor and a veritable one-man army, he's the ultimate soldier and possesses skills that surpass any of the Imperium's highly-trained operatives. Despite his unparalleled abilities his commanders inwardly feel there is "something deeply wrong with the boy." Mysterious and aloof, little is known of Marbo's origins and most of what's told remains rumour and speculation. Only Colonel Traupman, Marbo's mentor and original commanding officer, knows the details of his past. It is said that he was one of ten brothers who were inducted into the Catachan XII Regiment, and that during fighting against WAAAGH! Urgok on Ryza all were killed. However, tales abound of a lone Guardsman returning two solar weeks later with the head of the Ork Warlord, a single bullet hole clearly visible between the Greenskin's eyes. Marbo gained further renown as one of the few survivors who fought during the Dark Eldar incursion on Galabad. The small garrison of Guardsmen stationed on the planet were greatly outnumbered by the vast xenos horde, and were eventually overrun. Many Imperial historians recount the horrific details of long, dark nights of torture, in which the Catachan prisoners were dismembered whilst Wyches and Mandrakes bathed in the blood of their victims. It was Colonel Traupman who led the rescue force that eventually found Sly Marbo, standing alone and armed only with a knife, covered from head to toe in alien blood. Marbo was surrounded by destroyed vehicles, piles of alien bodies and the head of the Dark Eldar's Archon impaled on a spike behind him. The myth of Guardsman Marbo has become legendary amongst the Catachan Jungle Fighter regiments, although their tradition of exaggeration is equally well-known. On Pardus it is said that Marbo destroyed an enemy armoured convoy by booby-trapping an entire ravine, while on Sask's World he captured Command Post Four-Twelve single-handed, slaying the alien leader and all of its tentacled bodyguards with his bare hands (and, it is later said, a ration tin). If half the stories about Marbo's exploits were true then he would have a collection of medals that would rival that of an Imperial Warmaster, though he is known to have been awarded the Star of Terra, the highest Imperial award for valour, multiple times for his legendary exploits. Whatever the truth, it is without doubt that Marbo is a man who has been through hell and back too many times to remain completely sane. The blood and death he has witnessed have warped Marbo to the point where he can only function with a blade in his hand. His eyes are empty when he isn't stalking the foe and his actions lacklustre unless he is carving his name into an enemy's chest. ]] Guardsman Marbo is a loner who sticks to the darkness at all times, even when he is receiving his orders at friendly outposts. Few have seen his face and none have heard him speak. He is utterly silent and acknowledges orders with but a slight nod before vanishing once more to find the enemy. His fellow Jungle Fighters compare him to a small Ork in size, his sheer bulk almost inhuman, with dead eyes that are both cold and distant, unfocused and lethal. Between missions Marbo never shows any emotion other than a mix of sadness and brooding, appearing like a hulking machine running on low power, saving his energy for the fight to come. As a man who always works alone, Sly Marbo only uses what he can carry with him. Marbo travels relatively light as he is incredibly adept at using the entire battlefield as a lethal weapon. Marbo doesn't rely on the relics and gadgets of the Dark Age of Technology to get the job done, as he's eliminated targets without number with just his Ripper Pistol, Envenomed Blade and his bare hands. Marbo is a patient hunter. He waits in ambush until his quarry is in sight before killing it with contemptuous ease. He is a master at blending into his surroundings and covering any trace of his whereabouts so that the enemy has no idea from where the attack is coming. Having slit the throats of his foes he melts back into the shadows and stealthily moves to another vantage point. In this way he throws the enemy army into utter disarray as they frantically try to locate the killer in their midst. In most cases Marbo's actions are not even initially noticed, that is until entire patrols go missing, supply depots are destroyed and command bunkers are discovered filled with corpses. In battle it is said that fighting Marbo is like fighting a shadow. Enemy commanders have sworn that such attacks cannot be the result of a single man and that an entire army must have ambushed them. His skills are such that it is said during the Octavius War Marbo hunted the chameleonic Tyranid Lictors for sport. If this is true Marbo gives no sign. He simply stares vacantly into space until given his next assignment by his superiors. Marbo's fellow Jungle Fighters are well aware of his superlative skills at stealth and ambush, and know that if Sly Marbo does not want to be seen or heard, he will not be -- sometimes not even by those who know he's around. Many Catachan Jungle Fighters hold Sly Marbo in very high regard as an exemplar of what it means to be Catachan. At times, Marbo will track a group of Jungle Fighters and aid them at critical junctures. Having the legendary Sly Marbo watching their backs is considered an honour by those he chooses to follow. When the forces of the Ork Warboss Killzkar invaded and conquered the mining planet of Dulma'lin, Marbo and the rest of the Catachan II were tasked with sabotaging the Ork war effort. After the main army comprised of Selvian Dragoons were slaughtered en route to the planetary capital, the Catachan's leader, Colonel "Iron Hand" Straken, began a solar months-long war of sabotage and guerrilla warfare. Marbo himself was hand-picked by the Colonel to infiltrate a group of deranged cultists, survivors of the Ork assault who had begun to worship them as gods. Marbo slaughtered any in his path, learned the enemy plans and opened the way for a Catachan assault. In battle against the Orks, Marbo would often appear out of nowhere, slaying xenos at the most critical of moments. Gun emplacements, Greenskin warriors and Ork Nobz -- all would be attacked and slain before they could even fully react. When Killzkar was finally defeated by Straken in personal combat, it was Marbo who carried the Colonel's broken body from the field of battle. In the Third War for Armageddon, Sly Marbo once more waged his one-man war against the Orks. His skill and experience often led to him being despatched into Armageddon's industrial wastelands alone, where he triumphed in battle against entire Greenskin companies, a task that usually required the skills of a dozen or so elite Assassins. On Nordassa, Marbo was able to destroy a daemonic ''Banelord''-class Titan. The details of how he managed to achieve this feat were later placed under seal, with even the report in his personnel file becoming classified. During the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, entire Chaos encampments were discovered empty, their inhabitants slaughtered by headshots fired by an unseen assailant and well-placed explosives, the remainder having fled in utter fear for their lives. The discovery of the corpses of Heretic Astartes added to what was becoming a mystery for the Imperial forces, while on the ground increasingly fearful local Guard regiments began to flood the Astra Militarum's service newspaper, the Regimental Standard, with reports of other strange events and unexplained sightings. When the Regimental Standard 's staff investigated the reports, they at first believed that it might be the work of Loyalist Space Marines who were covertly operating in the area. Following a classified investigation, it was revealed that this had actually been the work of none other than Sly Marbo. However, all reports and records of his actions were soon placed under seal by the order of Catachan High Command. Legends of Marbo The stories of Sly Marbo's exploits have passed from the Catachan Jungle Fighters on to many other regiments of the Astra Militarum, where he has become something of a mythological figure or the central protagonist of a series of tall tales. The stories of his exploits have grown so outlandish that Astra Militarum command has ordered that repetition of the following anecdotes about Marbo by line troopers is punishable by immediate reassignment as a Gunner Specialist Plasma, Grade 1. *Sly Marbo threw a grenade and killed five Orks. Then it exploded. *Sly Marbo poked the Warp right in the Eye of Terror. *A Catachan Devil once stung Sly Marbo. After 5 solar days of agonising pain, the Catachan Devil died. *Flak Armour wears Sly Marbo for protection. *Sly Marbo doesn't have a shadow because he scared it off. *When Ambulls go to bed at night, they check their nests for Sly Marbo. *The fastest way to a man's heart is with Sly Marbo's blade. *Sly Marbo once shot down a Dakkajet by pointing at it with his finger and saying "bang!". *Sly Marbo doesn't shower, he takes blood baths. *Lord Castellan Ursarkar E. Creed wears Sly Marbo pyjamas. *If at first you don't succeed, you're not Sly Marbo. *The official name for Exterminatus is Sly Marbo. *Sly Marbo beat a ''Warlord'' Titan at arm wrestling. *Sly Marbo hacked a Tyranid Prime to death with its own scything talon. *Sly Marbo can run faster than a Shokkjump Dragsta. *Sly Marbo sleeps with a pillow under his gun. *The Cicatrix Maledictum was created when Sly Marbo sneezed. *The first name engraved in every suit of Adeptus Custodes' armour is Sly Marbo. *Sly Marbo does not sleep. He waits... *Sly Marbo does not go hunting because "hunting" implies the possibility of failure -- Sly Marbo goes killing. *Roboute Guilliman keeps an inspirational pict of Sly Marbo with him at all times. *Sly Marbo won a staring contest with a Necron. Wargear and the Envenomed Blade]] *'Ripper Pistol' - This modified Autopistol fires specially designed armour-piercing metal shards containing a vicious cocktail of venomous chemicals with deadly accuracy. The initial wounds caused by the shards allow the venom to enter the victim's bloodstream and cause death, and thus the weapon can bring down the largest opponents in a single shot. It is designed so that if the vicious impact of the bullet does not kill the target, the poisons flooding into its bloodstream will. Often, a Ripper Pistol can prove to be the final word in terminal close encounters. A Ripper Pistol is favoured by those who venture onto hostile Jungle Worlds and Death Worlds like Catachan where the massive and universally hostile flora and fauna present constant dangers. *''Envenomed Blade'' - More sword than knife, the Envenomed Blade is a unique Catachan Knife carried by Sly Marbo that is coated with toxins so deadly that they can make even the smallest flesh wound fatal. Marbo wields this blade with horrifying skill, butchering his enemies with mechanical efficiency. Trivia The character of Sly Marbo was based on the fictional character of John Rambo in the 1982 action film First Blood and the subsequent films in the Rambo franchise. "Marbo" is, in fact, an anagram for "Rambo" and "Sly" was the nickname for the 1980s action movie star Sylvester Stallone, who played John Rambo in the films. Colonel Traupman is also a parody of Colonel Sam Trautman, Rambo's mentor within the film series. Sources *''Codex: Catachans'' (3rd Edition), pg. 22 *''Codex: Imperial Guard'' (5th Edition), pg. 61 *''Rogue Trader: Into the Storm'' (RPG), pp. 111-112 *''Death World'' (Novel) by Steve Lyons, Chs. 4, 7 *''Straken'' (Novel) by Toby Frost, Chs. 12, 20 *''Warhammer 40,000: Sly Marbo'' (Miniature Box) (Quote) (Poster) *''Shadow War: Armageddon, One Man Armies'' *''White Dwarf'' (December 2017) (UK), pg. 16 *''White Dwarf'' 243 (March 2000), pg. 9 *Warhammer Community *Sly Marbo Rules for Warhammer 40,000 *Regimental Standard: Another Mystery Conclusively Solved *Regimental Standard: Sly Marbo Facts Category:S Category:M Category:Characters Category:Imperial Characters Category:Imperial Guard Category:Imperium